


A Gift From the Heart

by Triangulum



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Courting Rituals, M/M, Minor Character Death, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 06:45:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13875369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triangulum/pseuds/Triangulum
Summary: Theo is a problem. His plans are sloppy and ineffective, despite the fact that he fooled True Alpha Scott McCall (not that spectacular of a feat, as far as Peter's concerned). His attempts of subterfuge are weak and unrefined, quite frankly an insult to bad guys everywhere. At the risk of sounding like a villain from a bad western, there's only enough room in Beacon Hills for one undead psychopath (reformed, in Peter's case at least), and Peter isn't going to give the mantle over to a lazy little upstart thing.Also, he hurt Stiles and that, quite frankly, is unacceptable. It's the final nail in his coffin as far as Peter is concerned.OrPeter has a courting gift for Stiles.





	A Gift From the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Be advised, this fic isn't Theo-friendly.

Theo is a problem. His plans are sloppy and ineffective, despite the fact that he fooled True Alpha Scott McCall (not that spectacular of a feat, as far as Peter's concerned). His attempts of subterfuge are weak and unrefined, quite frankly an insult to bad guys everywhere. At the risk of sounding like a villain from a bad western, there's only enough room in Beacon Hills for one undead psychopath (reformed, in Peter's case at least), and Peter isn't going to give the mantle over to a lazy little upstart thing. He's not even a true wolf. What's the word Stiles and Derek would use? Abomination? Theo was dragged to literal hell. _Hell_. Even Peter didn't end up there when he died. And that's the boy Scott wants tagging along with him and his pack? It's a miracle their mortality rate is as low as it is. 

Also, he hurt Stiles and that, quite frankly, is unacceptable. It's the final nail in his coffin as far as Peter is concerned. Stiles is the reason Peter isn't in Eichen House like Scott and Deaton wanted. It's Stiles that found out Kate was controlling him, Stiles who broke her spell. Peter owes Stiles for that, and even if he doesn't, he's liked Stiles from the very start. He would happily do this for him either way.

Theo is cocky until the end. He thinks that it's posturing on Peter's part, that he would never actually kill him. His surety that Peter wouldn't do anything to risk his tenuous position with the McCall pack is a bit insulting, really. The youth, never respecting their elders. Either his reputation doesn't precede him quite as much as it should, or Theo really is just that arrogant. It doesn't matter in the end. The look of shocked horror on his face as Peter rips out his throat, as the light leaves his eyes makes up for it.

Peter's tempted to leave the body for Stiles, as a kind of offering. A courting gesture. But he knows he wouldn't appreciate a corpse on his front porch, not with the amount of work it would take for the sheriff to explain a dead teenager on his doorstep. Scott's doorstep is his second choice. Not as an offering, but as a taunt. _Look at what I can do to your pack. Try and stop me._ But no, that much dramatic flare would definitely make Peter the prime suspect, and he's still playing his cards, not quite ready to show his whole hand yet.

In the end, he rips Theo's body apart before dumping him down a ravine deep in the preserve, deeper than even the most advanced hikers in the county bother with. If Theo is found, it'll take months, if not years. Long enough for any remaining scent of Peter to be long gone. Peter does take a token from Theo's body, though. The dumb bracelet he'd insisted on wearing, thinking it made him look cool. The engraving on it is actually a Celtic fertility symbol, though Theo had told everyone it meant strength and serenity. The idiot. 

Stiles is the only one in the Stilinksi house when Peter arrives. He'd gone home to change and rinse the blood off him before setting out, the bracelet in his pocket. The sheriff's cruiser isn't in the driveway, though Peter hadn't expected it to be. Peter's run by the Stilinski house every night on his patrols since Stiles had broken him of Kate's clutches, and the sheriff is home maybe a quarter of the time. It doesn't shock him that the only heartbeat inside is Stiles'. It's a little faster than the average human's, and one that Peter could pick out anywhere. 

Peter knocks on the front door, because as much as he'd love to crawl through Stiles' window, he's been lining it with mountain ash lately. Theo's too much of a threat not to, and Peter respects a healthy amount of self preservation. It takes a few moments for Stiles to answer, looking a little ragged, like he hasn't slept well for a while. Peter knows for a fact that that's true. It's part of why Peter stopped for takeout. He knows that when Stiles' sleep schedule takes a nosedive, he has a habit of not taking care of himself. That includes forgetting to eat.

"Hey," Stiles says. He looks surprised, but not like Peter's unwelcome. "Did we have plans I forgot about? I thought we were going to the movies tomorrow?"

"No, you're right," Peter says. He holds up the takeout bag. "But I come bearing gifts. Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure," Stiles says, stepping to the side. Peter deliberately brushes against him as he walks by, because he's just like that. "You got Bamboo Garden Teriyaki? Wow, this must be serious, you hate that place," Stiles teases, though Peter can see the apprehension at the corners of his eyes. 

"It's nothing serious," Peter says, following Stiles in to the living room. "Well, nothing bad."

"Okay..." Stiles says slowly sitting cross-legged on the couch. "Care to elaborate?"

Peter sets the food down on the table and kneels in front of Stiles. Stiles' breath catches as Peter takes his hands. He runs his fingers over the delicate bones on the back of Stiles' hands before turning them over. He pulls the bracelet from his pocket and sets it in Stiles' open palm, trailing his fingers over Stiles' hands before dropping them, letting Stiles see what he handed him. Stiles frowns for a second, turning the bracelet over in his hand, then his eyes widen, realization setting in. He thumbs over the symbol etched in the gaudy grey stone before looking up at Peter. His heart is racing, but there isn't anything in his scent that points to fear. Nothing that points to disgust, or anger.

Stiles knows what this means. Peter doesn't have to explain that he killed Theo for him, that this is a declaration. He doesn't need to tell Stiles he would do anything for him.

"At some point, I'm going to ask you to take me away," Stiles says, turning the bracelet over in his hands. He looks up at Peter, eyes serious. "Not...not yet. I'm not ready yet. But we both know eventually, this place is going to eat us whole."

"I won't let it," Peter says fiercely. "There are only a few more months until you leave for college. We can make it 'til then."

"I deferred admission," Stiles says, and that, well, that's news to Peter. "I don't know what I want to do, but I don't want to waste time and money on school until I figure that out. And I'd like to enjoy being not possessed for a while, you know?"

"That's fine," Peter says, trailing fingers up the side of Stiles' throat. He cups his jaw in his hand, thumb brushing over the skin of his cheek. "Whenever you're ready, we'll leave. I've always thought you'd enjoy Paris."

Stiles laughs and leans forward, resting his forehead against Peter's. Peter curls his hand around the back of Stiles' neck, squeezing lightly, letting their scents mingle even more. Stiles sighs, hand tightening around the bracelet in his hand, grinning.

Peter's been waiting for this. He'd been planning on following Stiles to college anyway, and is more than happy to go wherever Stiles goes. He has no need to stay in this town that's only caused him pain and misery. It hurts that his family's territory has been taken over, but dying hurts more. He hopes Stiles chooses sooner rather than later. He has no desire to watch Beacon Hills consume him more than it already has.

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on [ tumblr ](http://www.hotpinklizard.tumblr.com).


End file.
